TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

My fiancé and I stayed 5 nights at Bavaro for a friend’s wedding. I upgraded to a Diamond Club Jr Suite as we wanted to splurge on a once in a lifetime experience. Despite being the most expensive holiday we have ever taken, we had so many negative incidents that we stopped counting. I repeatedly asked for the Manager or GM and was redirected to our “Butler” or the DC every time. (Most of this was shared with them the day before we left and again after we departed to no results.) At arrival we were sent to the wrong desk for check in and after waiting 25 minutes in line were told to go back up front and ask the other desk. Re: “drinks on arrival” - we still had no access to water/beverages and were taken to the separate check in area where we asked for something to drink repeatedly as we had been traveling for 14 hours at this point. We were then taken to our ‘luxury suite’… The Diamond Club “upgrade” felt like a scam as we didn’t receive most of the “amenities” promised when booking. No chilled wine, no upgraded bar, no upgraded bath product.. We were given two doubles when I booked a King, our safe didn’t work, we did not have hot water the first two days for showers. Our “upgraded” mini bar was a joke - individual Lays bag, plantain chips, a bag of M&Ms, one bite-size Snickers, sodas, 2 Heineken and 2 Coors Light. (Which we later learned our non-diamond club friends also got). We could only get a dinner reservation at the Brazilian steakhouse (I’m a vegetarian). We were relocated to a new room with swim up however our new room had NO bathroom toiletries (not even soap), missing slippers, missing snacks, and the tub was filthy. We never received our welcome sparkling wine or complimentary bottle of wine. We finally got the canvas “beach bag” which hardly justifies the upgrade cost. The food at all locations was average at best and the hotel was out of about 20-30% of menu items at every location. Additionally the night before the wedding the bar staff started breaking down and cleaning about 30 minutes before closing and ignored the wedding party waiting for drinks (it was maybe 10:30). The hotel also had staff members approaching us repeatedly offering a “free massage or cabana” if we came to a breakfast pitch for their upgraded Diamond experience (which costs more money). It was maddening that we were harassed multiple times per day to upgrade further when we weren’t even getting the upgrade experience we already paid so dearly for. The final insult was the “taxi” the hotel called for us. The porter assured us he took card payment and we reconfirmed with the driver before we left however that all changed when we got to the airport. He took us to the wrong terminal, took our bags from the airport porter and escorted us into a room of ATMs and demanded we pay him $45 in cash. When I told him we agreed on a card he grabbed our bags again and took us to the Currency Exchange window and demanded cash again. I told him I was contacting the hotel and asked his name he said smirked and said “Pablo” which I did not believe so I went to take a picture of his vehicle. He followed me yelling oyé and telling me to stop, demanded I delete it, saying in Spanish that he “wasn't asking me he was telling me” and continuously referring to me as “muchacha”. He then tried several times to physically take my phone from my hand. When I felt intimidated and unsafe and tried to walk away he grabbed my suitcase to stop me. My fiancé returned at this point to yell at him to let me go. He ran off without his money. Even IF the hotel had tried to address the issues during our stay, I would still not recommend upgrading and recommend not using their recommended guest transport, specifically single guests or females. I was intimidated and fearful what would have happened had I been traveling alone. I’m a longtime Marriott/Starwood customer and it has always been my preferred property but I can honestly say this was the worst travel experience I’ve had in 20 years. The location is beautiful and staff is really kind but it is not worth the money.

We were not disappointed with our return to Royalton Bavaro. From the pre-check in process to the check-out process, our trip was perfect. Thank you to Maria De La Cruz for contacting us prior to our arrival to arrange spa treatments and dinners and to Wily, our butler, for the attention to details and great service including the ride to the lobby after check-out. The room was wonderful and very clean. We spent our days enjoying the Diamond Club pool and the service provided by Railin and Starling was top notch. We enjoyed the service provided by Samuel and Bailysis at Ocean Side each morning. We really enjoyed the food at Hunter, Zen and Grazie. Although both are available at additional cost, I highly recommend the romantic dinner on the beach and the Culinary Experience. Samuel, Ray and Rowdy provided wonderful service for our romantic dinner and the food was absolutely amazing. Jony and Jesus took care of us during the Culinary Experience which is a 7 course meal with drink pairings. So much fun. I see a lot of comments about whether or not to get Diamond Club service. We believe it is worth it. The staff at Royalton Bavaro really tries to make your stay memorable. Take good care of those that take care of you! They appreciate it!

Wow! So I have never written a review before however after this experience I don’t want anyone to make the same mistake I made. Let’s start with arriving at the resort. You will be pushed into upgrading to Dimond Club. After you hear there spill about Dimond Club benefits and how your assigned butler will make your stay so much better, it sounds very nice. To add to the temptation, they reduced the price of Dimond Club from 1200 usd to 600 usd. Of course I said do it! Now here is where it gets interesting. My butler’s name was Delvis. He came and took my wife and I to our room and was on his phone the entire time. He asked if we needed anything and I ask for Milk and Coffee for the room and he said no problem. That was the last time I seen him until next to the last day when he showed up to our room expecting his tip. What about the milk and coffee I ask for????? I ended up going to the front desk and asking for it myself. One of the other perks of upgrading to Dimond Club was the premium drinks! My wife likes Grey Goose so we went to the Dimond Club Longe and they opened a new bottle and gave her a shot in a paper cup that she could take with her. Next stop was the Dimond Club pool with swim up bar. Here I got a shot of Grey Goose for myself only to find it didn’t taste right at all. I let my wife compare my shot with one she has and we both realized the premium liquor was half WATER! Our best friends went with us on this trip but chose not to upgrade to Dimond Club. My wife and I ate breakfast the 1st morning at ocean side “Dimond Club Only “ The next morning we went to eat breakfast with our friends at the main buffet only to find out that is was the exact same food as the Dimond Club only buffet! Wow! To sum up what you get extra with the Dimond Club upgrade goes as follows: No Butler Service Watered down premium drinks Exact same food as anyone else No milk No coffee or anything you don’t go get yourself And 600 less dollars in your pocket than when you started! As far as the quality of food: Avg at the Zen restaurant and below avg to poor quality everywhere else.

The resort was so beautiful, the staff were very kind, and the service was amazing. Our butler made our experience so much better by providing recommendations, making reservations, and overall taking the stress off of us. He went above and beyond for us.

To start off Esmeralda the cocktail server at bar by open theatre is a gem her service was top notch. Cesar my concierge was a professional at being attentive and being accountable. The two sport bar night time servers at the sports bar young kid with light eyes and his partner short dark skin were everything to me on the trip. Izquiel at the bungalow service is a superstar. I mean the service there and decor,food and shows were five star. My only takeaway was you have to fumigate I unfortunately encountered 3 water bugs in my room but that happens in the Caribbean. Overall this property is 5 star and I work at a five star hotel in nyc. Also Alis at hibachi Mateo also were great. My bellman Cesar was very reliable and professional. The Royalton will be my new goto spot. I travel to punta Cana every year and I can’t believe I didn’t know about this gem!